"Life Update" is so cliche...oh, well.

I have a history test in about 45 minutes. I'm sooo bored right now, but I don't want to study for anything else I should be studying for, in case I get confused :) I'm sitting in the school library, listening to Pandora (custom personalized internet radio, if you haven't tried it, get on over to Pandora.com and go crazy!) and reading up on all the blogs I've been missing. You know who you are! School's taking up much more of my time than I expected. Not more than I can handle, but my casual forays into the blogosphere have become rare. I'm doing well in all my classes, except chemistry, but one bad test grade isn't the end of the world. I took my second chem test this morning, and I feel pretty confident about it. Besides, if I have to withdraw, I can always take it next year. See, VT has articulation agreements (guaranteed transfer admission) with several of their colleges, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is one of them. That's the one I'm shooting for. All I have to do is take the required courses for an AA in Science, pass each class with at least a C average, and maintain a 3.0. That's not nearly as stringent as I was expecting, considering how fierce the competition for transfer students is in general. Turns out taking Bio and Chem in the same year is going to free up a lot of class time for next year. Maybe I can take physics for fun. Is physics fun? I don't know, I opted out of taking it in high school because I wanted to take AP Bio instead. That was DEFINITELY fun.

Went to the Tool show in Pittsburgh Tuesday night. I had to miss some classes to do it, but it all worked out. Now, I'm not a huge Tool fan (although my husband is), but this show BLEW me AWAY. What a great experience. If you're thinking to yourself, "I don't like heavy metal," think again. They're SO much more than that. You just have to look deeper.

Anyone heard of the Funky Meters? Yeah, they're before my time, but last Friday George Porter, Russell Batiste and Eric Stoltz (The FM minus Aaron Neville) played a show at the Lyric Theatre here in town with special guest Steve Kimock. You know, the guy who retaught Jerry how to play guitar when he came out of his coma. We got lucky on that, he's not playing the whole tour. Like funk? You'd have LOVED this show.

Next up? Flaming Lips sometime in October. My husband takes care of the details...I just show up :)

I feel good. Until next time....

:)

Party at the Masquerade

So this weekend was the combined birthday party for me and my hubby, since it fell right in between. And what did we do, you ask? We went and saw these two guys
with this guy
and this guy
play at the Masquerade Music Park in Atlanta. I tell you, I don't even know if I can put this show into words. It was hands down the best live show I've seen yet (not that I'm a seasoned veteran of live shows or anything, but still). I have yet to see the Duo and not be right up front on the rail, and this was no exception. I was standing next to this guy named Leon, he was from London and an English professor up in NC. He'd already seen a few shows of this tour, and he's been a Phish fan since '91. Very cool guy. I always like ending up next to interesting, friendly people at shows, it makes it easier for me to relax and just have a great time. The Duo played a short but solid first set, and when all four of them came out for second set, they rocked it from the start. The first four or so songs were killer! There was a lot of long jamming after that, Chris wasn't feeling well and some guy right down from us passed out and had to be lifted over the rail so they could get him out (he was okay, though), so I was kinda distracted for a while, but when Mike pulled out his electric banjo and Trey went acoustic, I was all ears. They sat and played a few simple songs, then busted out with "Mexican Cousin", the first Phish cover of this tour. The whole crowd was singing along, it was incredible! Joe and Marco came out after that and got halfway through Paranoid Android, which I've always wanted to hear them cover live, and when Trey came back out he looked like he was going to groove on it with them, but instead he broke in with a new riff....I was kida pissed, I wanted to hear the end of Android, but when they started playing Who Are You, the whole crowd went NUTS! I can't describe it. I have never rocked out that hard. I gave myself whiplash :) not bad, but I'll remember this show for a few days! We were standing right in front of Marco (Benevento, the keyboard player)...I LOVE watching him play, he's so happy and smiling all the time, he loves what he does and he loves seeing all of us digging on what he does, it's only been two days and I can't WAIT to see these guys again, even if I don't know when that wll be. But there will be a next time. Oh yes, there will be.

We had breakfast at Waffle House this morning. Two breakfasts: eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, orange juice and coffee. Waffle House food, what my husband has affectionally termed "crap on a plate". $15, including tip. Last night, after the show, we went to Gordon Biersch and had fresh brewed iced tea (for me), a half-litre handcrafted Hefeweizen (for him), and split a fresh from-scratch veggie pizza with tomatoes, artichokes, spinach, mushrooms and sun-dried tomato pesto, enough to fill up both of us. $21, including tip. The moral? If you ever get near a Gordon Biersch, go have dinner. You won't be disappointed.

Life update

15 days until the movers come. I have not started packing anything, or even going through things to decide what goes and what stays, although this little voice in the back of my mind keeps telling me I should, don't wait until the last minute, you don't want to be going through your stuff after it's already moved, just take what important and leave the rest. I'm living in this strange mix of permanent and temporary. I still have things packed away in boxes in various closets because we don't have the space to unpack everything we have, but it all seems so solid, we've been here for a year and a half now and it feels like forever. I can barely remember what this place looked like when we moved in last February. Oddly enough, as solid as it seems, it has never really felt like home. I haven't had a "home" since I left my parents six years ago. Oh, living with Fletch came close, I actually had a house and a roommate I was comfortable with, but I haven't had the opportunity to put down new roots since I pulled the last ones up, and I don't know when I'm going to have the chance again. I don't even know how long we'll be staying in VA this time. The thing is, though, I don't know whether or not I would be comfortable settling down in one place and not moving again. I suppose as long as I was able to travel, it would be okay, but living the same life day after day gets monotonous so quickly. That's why I wasn't ready to leave VA the first time, hanging out with the guys in Arlington there was always something different happening, and it never got old. I miss them. I hope I can find a way to settle in to the next chapter in my life as well as I have in the past, because the sooner this one is over, the better.

Chris is still hanging in there. He's stressing over the amount of work he still has to do, apparently there are two change of commands this week so instead of spending quality time in his office he and the rest of his squadron have been practicing for those, but he's managing. Things have been a little strained around the house. I've started likening it to childbirth; right towards the end everything gets harder, your patience wears thin and all you want is for it to be over and done with. At least, that's what I've read. I've never had children, so I don't know if that's true or not. But we both realize the situation we're in, which makes it easier to get through the strain and say, "This is only temporary, we can get through it, and things will be better soon." Not that they're "bad" now, but we're both snappish and preoccupied, and we don't see much of each other, since I'm working nights. We get a break in a few days, though! We're going to Atlanta for the weekend to see the GRAB show. That's Gordon, Russo, Anastasio, Benevento for all you non-Duo and non-Phish people. Check out www.trey.com, www.mike-gordon.com, www.phish.com or www.organanddrums.com to find out more (this means you, Jimmy!). These guys are incredible!

All the pets are doing fine. One of my fish died a few days ago, but I'm not that upset about it. As long as Wilson (my betta) is okay, that's all I'm worried about.



One of my mice is pregnant again. This will be her third litter. The other two females are still too young, I think, or maybe they haven't started showing yet. Doesn't really matter to me, the pinkies are all going in the freezer for my corn snake. Who, by the way, started eating on his own! I finally got him to eat a brained pinky three days ago (yes, that means I squished its head, deal with it), and Jennifer gave him a not-brained pinky yesterday, which he grabbed onto with relish (dill, not bread-n-butter :P). I will definitely be taking him with me when we move. He's starting to show some orange around his head, I think he's going to turn out to be a standard coloration, which is fine with me. I'll share some pictures as soon as I get them.

Not counting my days off, I have eleven days of work left. Work is...work. I think I'm going to miss about half a dozen people from my job, but most of them are Myspace friends, so I won't be completely cut off! I don't really have anything to say about my job.

Still waiting on my financial aid. *sigh*

Israel and Lebanon just went to war. I am now trying frantically to learn 2.000 years of Middle Eastern history so I will understand not only what's happening, but why. My husband did a wonderful job of giving me the layman's version, but I still wonder where I've been for the past 24 years...do my parents know about any of this? If so, why didn't they teach me? Based on everything I know up to this point, I'm very pissed off at Israel right now.

That's all for now.

Bonnaroo

Bonnaroo, man. I can't even talk about it. What an awesome experience. We went to Bonnaroo back in '03. My first festival. It literally changed my life. For the first time, I knew there were other people out there like me, people who would accept who I am no matter how strange or unusual or different, or completely ordinary. For the first time, I felt like part of a community. I wasn't alone anymore. Now take that experience, add the combined knowledge of two subsequent festivals (Coventry in '04 and AllGood in '05), throw in a kick-ass camp setup, and top it all off with some of the greatest music ever, and you have Bonnaroo '06.

We left on Thursday morning. Made a trip to Wal-Mart, one to Home Depot, two farmer's markets, and away we were. It took about 8 hours one way. Last time, we were in traffic for fifteen hours waiting to get in. No lie. This year, there was about 100 yards worth of traffic at the exit. They had traffic diverted to another exit to split the flow, but we stayed on the Interstate to the exit on the directions and we were right in the gate. I think from the time we hit the line to the time we were parked at our campsite was about 45 minutes. We immediately set up camp, since we were setting up for four people and had to get space for two tents. The people parked next to us were camping with friends elsewhere, so it worked out. Andy and Mike didn't show up until after midnight, but we had their tent all ready for them. We had a canopy this year, 9' x 12' and screened in on all sides. Chris built a collapsible frame for the grill we got from our neighbor, in fact he was finishing it at Bonnaroo after we got the campsite set up, and we rented a two-burner stove from the base marina. We also rented a couple of camp chairs and a 178-quart cooler, which took up almost the entire backseat of my car, but easily fit food for four people for four days. More than enough, actually. We had two guys camping behind us who had never been to a festival before, and didn't realize they were stuck there until the end, so they had no tent and no food beyond a box of Pop-Tarts and a few bags of chips. They, and two others camping next to us, became part of our Bonnaroo family for the weekend, and there was food, shade and good times for everyone. Chris and I went into Centeroo (the main festival grounds) to look around until Andy and Mike got there. They had a Ferris Wheel almost as big as the one at Navy Pier in Chicago. You could see most of the camping grounds from the top, but I bet it looked a lot better in the daytime. After we got back to our camp, Andy called and told us where he was, and we could see the information balloon from where we were, so we started in that direction. After tramping through a field of knee-high wet grass, tearing down a fence, crossing a road, and cutting through a cow pasture, we finally got to their car and grabbed all their stuff. We didn't sleep that night, just stayed up with our old friends and our new friends, battling the cold and catching up on everything. The sunrise was beautiful.

We saw Oysterhead on Friday. Les Claypool on bass, Trey Anastasio on guitar, and Stuart Copland on drums. OH. MY. GOD. Anyone who's a fan of Primus, Phish or The Police would love this band. They played a great set. Nothing out of the ordinary, but rock-solid. The pinnacle of the show came at the end, and it was one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen (and maybe some of those with me). We had left our spot near the sound board to go sit by the bleachers in the back of the field. The band launched into their last song, a blazing version of "There Ain't No Cure for Suicide". As we were watching, this chick came running past us towards the guys wearing the yellow Safety shirts at the gate, followed by a guy who obviously knew her. She was yelling, "Help me!" and latched on to the nearest Safety guy. It looked at first like she was running from the guy following her, but he and the guy she was holding on to started to pry her off. She freaked, started yelling and grabbing at this guy's walkie-talkie mike on his shoulder. Once they got her off and on the ground, she immediately starting grooving out to the music. She was sitting with her friend behind her, and another guy had knelt down to make sure she was okay. She was obviously tripping on something, probably acid. I've never seen shrooms do that to anyone, they're more of a body trip. Anyway, everything looked fine until the Medical team showed up. One guy bent down to talk to her, and she turned to talk to him, and from that angle I could see her lips moving, saying, "Save me, save me, save me," over and over. They grabbed a stretcher out of their truck, brought it over, and that's when she flipped the fuck out. The music had been steadily building, and they were jamming, rising to a peak intensity that was so loud and with so much energy that while all this was happening not twenty feet in front of me, I couldn't hear a thing, just watch in mingled horror and sympathy as they physically picked her up, thrashing and screaming, and strapped her down on this stretcher. When the music stopped, I could hear her screaming, "Damon!! Damon!! Help meeee!!" As empathic as I am, I was almost in tears. Imagine, if you will, having a good trip suddenly take a turn for the worse. If you've never done it, you can't really imagine, and if you have, you know exacly what I mean. Now, in addition to being totally unable to control your trip, you're suddenly totally unable to control even yourself, as someone takes over and straps you down for you don't even know what purpose. It was necessary, but heartbreaking at the same time. I wonder how much she was on.

Tom Petty played Friday night, with Umphrey's McGhee and the Disco Biscuits playing the late-night show. We decided to skip Petty and take a nap for the late show, but Chris was the only one who made it. The rest of us crashed until the next morning. I heard both were great shows. They were both taped, and they're already up on the torrent lists, so I'll get to hear them soon.

Saturday was more or less a down day for all of us. It was USA vs. Italy in the World Cup soccer game, which they were showing in the cinema tent, and everyone was excited and getting wasted drunk in preperation. Chris got a little too drunk, and after having an outrageously good time at our camp, he passed out on the grass. When we couldn't wake him up, Andy and Mike decided to go ahead to the game, and I stayed with him. He hadn't slept by now in two days, so even though we couldn't get him into the tent, I figured it was good for him. They came back soon after, saying the line for the cinema tent was wrapped three times around, and there was no way they were getting in. Turned out to be a 1- 1 tie. I read a little of my book, they napped, and Chris woke up around 5, in time to see Modeski, Martin & Wood, which was the only show he wanted to see that day until the Superjam late-night show. He went by himself and said they played a great set. We walked down to Centeroo to try and catch a little of the Radiohead show later that night, and I got to hear Paranoid Android. That's all I really wanted. I had found some really good mushrooms earlier that day, and planned to take them for the Superjam, but I should have known better and paced myself. I haven't done shrooms in almost two years, and that first time was in my home, with one of my best friends. I'm not good with crowds in the first place, but after that first experience I thought I would be okay. I had an eighth, and I ate the whole bag before we left the campsite. I started feeling the effects right before we got through the entrance line into Centeroo, and as soon as we got to the show and sat down, I started sinking into the ground so fast I sicked up the rest. That's the best part about organics, though...your body is equipped not only with warning signals to let you know when you've had enough, but also with ways to get rid of anything it doesn't want. I had to get Chris to walk me back to camp, because I couldn't handle all the people and I was freezing. I just crawled into my sleeping bag and watched the back of my eyelids for a while. It was fun. I missed a rockin' show, though. Some people were pissed that there wasn't actually a Superjam. Usually the Superjam is just all the musicians at the festival on one stage, anyone who feels like it can show up, and you never know who's going to be there. This year, the Benevento Russo Duo played with Trey and Mike from Phish, and Phil Lesh guested on a few songs. Trey, Mike and the Duo are going on tour, and we're going to see them in Atlanta next month for my birthday, so now I'm definitely looking forward to that a lot more than I was.

We had spent the whole weekend waiting for Sunday. A lot of people left after Saturday night, the ones who had come to see Radiohead, but there were still probably 60,000+ people at the main stage on Sunday. We walked down to the main stage gate before it was open, and when it opened we walked around the sound board and right to the rail. There we stayed for the entire day. We sat through the first band, The Codetalkers. Eh. After that, the day got much better. First up was Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. I always love seeing them. They were at Bonnaroo '03, before I really knew who they were, and I got to see them a year and a half ago in Burris Hall at VT with Andy. They always play a great show, and this one was no different. They had a few new songs, and it was cool because I usually enjoy the songs I know more than the ones I don't, but I loved it all! After that, moe. came on stage and rocked out. I saw them last year in Atlanta and wasn't really impressed, but Chris went back and saw them there a few months ago, and said they had really pulled their sound together. He was so right! They were tighter, better jamming, with so much energy. They're going places, no doubt. It was a great show. Last, but certainly not least, we saw Phil & Friends. Everyone was so hyped up about this show, because like the Superjam, you never know who's going to show up and play. For those who don't know, Phil Lesh was the bass player for the Grateful Dead, and after Jerry died, he started Phil & Friends, a rotating group of great musicians who play incredible music. Mostly Dead tunes, but that night they also broke out with "All Along the Watchtower", "Gimme Shelter" and "Midnight Hour". There were no guests for this show, but in the current incarnation he has John Scofield on guitar and Joan Osbourne singing. Anyone remember "What if God was One of Us"? Trust me, she's grown up since then. She's GOOD. What an AMAZING show this was! They opened second set with "Shakedown Street", only my favorite Dead song ever. I couldn't have asked for a better end to the festival.

And that's it. We left late Monday morning, had lunch with Mike and Andy just outside of Chattanooga, and headed back to reality. We haven't even unpacked yet, just brought everything inside. In two weeks it'll be my birthday, a week and a half after that we'll be seeing the show in Atlanta, and two weeks after that we'll be out of here. I can't wait!

56 days

56 days. Every day it gets a little harder. I'm going to have to start packing soon, I'd hate to wait until the last minute again. Hell, half of this stuff I don't even want to take with me. I bought a 30 gallon tank and a stand last night. Now I"m just waiting on the corn snake I want to start eating on his own. He's a hatchling. Very cute. One of our customers has a three week old kitten she wants to get rid of when it's old enough. Black with a long tail, exactly the kind I want. I told her to call me at the end of July if she still had it. I also want a siamese, but I doubt I'll stumble across one for free like I did with this kitten. I'm not getting any more pet rats. They're adorable, but I'm not really a small animal kind of person. I love reptiles, always have. Moving's going to be a bitch, what with all the animals, and my plants. Oh, yeah, forgot about the fish. That's not a big deal, though. One betta and one feeder fish in a 2.5 gallon tank.

There's a knock at my door. Holy shit, Bonnaroo tickets are here! Two weeks from now, we'll be in Manchester, TN. No work, no worries for a whole weekend. I might even be able to find some decent weed, enough to last me until we move out of this hellhole. It'll be good to be around good vibes again, even if it is just for a few days. Andy's going to be there. I don't know who's coming with him, probably someone I know, but possibly not. This is shaping up to be a rockin' good time!

Can't sleep

I know the mind uses down time to go over things, but it sucks when you're trying to sleep. Here's what's on my mind.

*I have to clean my whole apartment in the next week. It looked good a month ago, but ever since the horrible sunburn incident (tomorrow will be 4 weeks), it all went to shit. Not much time to clean when you're focusing on trying to walk. I can't seem to motivate myself to get up early enough to get anything constructive done, and when I sleep in I just don't feel like doing anything. We have friends coming to visit next Thursday. Gotts get motivated.

*Bonnaroo is coming up in about 4 weeks. I hope I get the weekend off. I've asked for it in plenty of time, but a few days ago we get this post at work that "too many people are asking for weekends, summer is the busy season, we need you all here, blah, blah, blah." If they don't give me all 5 days, I'm going to quit. I've been looking foward to this for too long, and the tickets were too expensive to give up. I hope it doesn't come down to that, I really like working where I am (in a pet store, for those who don't know), but I don't need the job. It's just extra money and something to do.

*Going back to college has me excited and worried at the same time. I stll have to file my FAFSA, just waiting on a few financial figures, and I still have to call and argue with the Admissions department about my in-state tuition. I was a Virginia resident when I left, I left because my spouse had military orders to leave, I still have a VA driver's license, and I'm registered to vote. My car's not registered in VA because it's still in my stepfather's name first, since he co-signed the loan for me. That's getting taken care of by the end of the week. On the other hand, getting back into academia is something I need to do, and getting back in the mountains again is something I look forward to harder every day. Life is going to change completely in a matter of months.

*I hope we can manage all the recreation and planned purchases and still have enough money left over to move and get started in Blacksburg. That comes first, of course, I just hope we don't have to give up anything else. Depends on how much money I make between now and moving day (and how long I keep my job).

*I miss my friends back home. After we moved down here in February last year, we went back in June, then I went back in late October. 4 months and 4 months. It's now been 7 months since we've been back, with 2.5 left to go. I have a few friends here, but I don't get to see them as often as I'd like, either because schedules don't work out or because they live far enough away that it's difficult to find time. This is not the right environment for either of us.

Well, I've finished my cigarette, and told my story. Maybe now I can get some sleep. Goodnight, and may the Goddess smile upon you all.

Karma

The plan was simple - drive to Mississippi, pick up my Jazz Fest buddy, go to New Orleans, and have a great time. Unfortunately, simple plans are the most easily fucked up.

Let me first say I'm not in any way angry or upset by the way today turned out. The universe has a way of making itself heard, and when it does, you listen.

After arriving in NO and finding a sweet parking spot right by the fairgrounds, we cabbed it down to the French Quarter for some sightseeing and biegnets. We actually made into Cafe du Monde, but then...the phone rang. In hindsight, I should have known what was coming. I am rather blind to the world around me sometimes.

Let me digress. Jazz Fest, and all the accompanied plans, happened to come just after said friend's dad came off chemo. Having checked with dad on whether or not it was okay for him to go, he decided to go, since we would be back that same day.

So, phone call. Dad says he's dying, and is asking for his son. It's time for him to go home. He wants me to come back to the Fest and have a good time, and considering the situation, I know I'll be better off doing just that. On the way back, my concentration wavers long enough for me to almost run someone off the road changing lanes. That's going to come back to haunt me, I know. I manage to find a parking spot not far from the one I had, and in to the Fest I go. It's now 2:30, and I've got plenty of time to catch Bob Dylan! The crowd is ridiculous, but at least I find a spot by the speakers. I called Chris so he could at least hear the show (a good 40 minutes of it at least), and eventually I wander off to find some food. Mmm, gumbo! Wander, wander, wander, look at booths, wander, and finally over to Heritage Square. I got Mom a Mother's Day gift, and myself some long-awaited biegnets. 6:30, and it's time for me to head home.

Karma. I love it. I get back to my car, and what's that on the windshield? Yes, that's right. A parking ticket. Guess I wasn't supposed to park that close to the intersection. But if that's the only bad karma I had to incur for my lapse on the road, I consider it fair trade. I come back to my friend's house to find Dad still alive, although by all reports he doesn't want to be anymore.

I hate the fact that we are not allowed to choose when we want to die. I understand the initial reasoning behind the law, but I also believe that since those reasons are primarily religious in nature, they should not be law over everyone, because not everyone believes. He knows what's coming, and he's ready for it. But hey, who am I to play God?